To understand what my title means one should understand that we, humans are made of two different components. We have a Body and a Ruh (English translation: soul), Body made of dirt and soil and Ruh is the special light delivered within our mother’s womb by angels following Allah’s commandment. When a women enters the 120th day (4 months) of her pregnancy, Allah SWT sends down an angel to write down four things: He is ordered to write down his (i.e. the new creature’s) deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). Then the soul is breathed into him (Sahih Al-Bukhari: Volume 4, Book 54, Number 430)

The majesty of Allah is such that He created Ruh of every single one of Adam’s progeny, long before he made the bodies and gathered us all as our Ruh’s minus the body and took a covenant form us. Every single one of us agreed that Allah is our creator and gave him the covenant that we wont be setting up rivals against Him and bore witness to him as our creator (Surah # 7, Verse # 172). And what did we do when the Ruh was deposited into our respective bodies? We deny Allah as being our creator and we question His presence?

We spend a BIG portion of our life running after worldly needs and trying our best to fulfil bodily needs and wants. We invest so much of our time and efforts into quenching our bodily desires and needs that we completely ignore to feed and strengthen the other component of our creation – our Ruh! We end up dehydrating and weakening our Ruh, thereby leading many of us to question Allah and His presence. ‘How do you know that there is a God?’, ‘Prove to me that there is but a God!’ – could perhaps be the best philosophical and atheist questions; the answer to which is one simple fact – But, You all did know .. All of us bore witness to this fact a long time ago. The only crucial difference being that you forgot!

Ramadhan is that magnificent month when we actually cater to the needs of our Ruh and nourish it. Since Ruh was created by Allah and delivered to us by Allah, Allah also provided with the proper nourishment for our Ruh – The Quran. Notice the amazing coincidence that Allah SWT arranged for the food for our Ruh to be delivered to us for the first time in the same month of Ramadhan, This was the month when Quran was revealed to the mankind.We restrain ourself from fulfilling the bodily needs during Ramadhan, giving us an excellent opportunity to devote time and attention to nourish and strengthen our Ruh inshallah. Therefore, Tarawee is a crucial component of Ramadhan where the recitation of Quran, its understanding enriches our Ruh and our faith in Allah SWT.

May Allah help us make the best out of this month and ease our sorrow and pain and grant us happiness and peace. AmeenRamadhan Mubarak

The story of Moses is mentioned in many different passages in the Quran, presented here is his life in the light of Quran and Sunnah. Mentioned in Quran ” Ta-Sin-Min. These are the verses of the Manifest book. We relate to you the story of Moses and Pharoah in truth, for people to believe … to show Pharoah and Haman and their soldiers what they were dreading from them” (28:1-6). The people of Israel were the best people of that time, but Pharoah exploited them and dealt with them with injustice. He used to kill their males and spared the women. The reason behind this evil practice was the beliefs of Israelites that there will come a child from the progeny of Abraham, who will destroy the kingdom of Pharoah. Suddi has narrated from Ibn Abbas and other companions: Pharoah had a dream, that a fire came from the direction of Jerusalem and burnt all the Coptic people and their houses, and did not harm Israelites. When he woke up, he was frightened of his dream. He gathered all priests, soothsayers and sorcerers and asked them the interpretation of his dream. They said, ‘There will be born a boy from these people, who will destroy the people of Egypt’. So pharoah released an order to kill all newborn baby boys and to leave the girls alive.

Many exegete’s said: The Coptic population complained to Pharoah that Israelites are getting less and less in number, because of killing their boys. Consequently, they were loosing manpower of Israelites and were forced to carry out those works performed by the Israelites. So Pharoah found an economical and socially sound solution, and hence decreed a new order, that from now he would kill the children from one year and then spare to live those born the next year. It is said that Aaron (Moses’s brother) was born in the year of pardon and Moses was born in the year when they were to be killed. When Moses’ mother gave birth to Moses, it was inspired to her that she should make a chest and tie it with a long rope, with the other hand tied with her house. As her house was on the bank of Nile, she should place him in the chest and let the rope lose so it could hide in the reeds in the Nile as mentioned in Surah Al-Qasas, Verse # 7-9. However one day she let the chest go in the Nile, she forgot to tie it with her house. Now the chest went on till it passed by the Pharoah’s place. So “the family of Pharoah picked him up, that Moses should be to them an adversary and a cause of sorrow. Surely, Pharoah, Haman and their soldiers were sinners (28: 8).

The moment Asiyah (Pharoah’s wife) looks at the baby Moses, she falls in love with him. She asks Pharoah to spare Moses as a gift to her further adding that “He may be of use to us or we may take him as a son” (28:9) since they never had any children of their own. Once Moses was taken inside Pharoah’s palace and they wanted to keep him, they looked for someone who could foster the child. However, he did not feed from any foster mother, neither did he eat any food from any one. They became helpless as Allah has said “And We ordained that he would refuse to be suckled by any foster mother” (28: 12). When Moses was escorted to the market with midwives to search for someone to suckle him, they were spotted by Moses’ sister and without giving nay hint that she was his sister, directed them to Moses’ mother. His mother took him and out him to his breasts. He immediately started suckling making them all overjoyed and relieved. Asiyah immediately calls for her and accepts her proposal of letting Moses stay with her to be suckled and fed. So Moses mother happily returned with her son to her home. Allah said, “Thus We did return him to his mother that her eye may be delighted and she is not grieved, and that she would know that the promise of Allah is true, but most of them do not know” (28:13)

Narrated Aisha R.A.A, The mother of faithful believers: The commencement of the divine revelations to Allah’s Messenger S.A.S was in the form of good righteous (true) dreams which came true like bright daylight, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion n the cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah Alone) continuously for many nights before returning to his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come home back to his wife Khadija to take his food likewise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The prophet S.A.S replied, ‘I do not know how to read’.

The prophet S.A.S added, ‘ Then the angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, ‘ I do not know how to read’. Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and asked me again to read but I again replied, ‘I do not know how to read’. Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me and then released me and said, ‘Read in the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most generous,‘ (V.96:1-3). Then Allah Messenger S.A.S returned with the revelation and his heart beating severely. Then he came to Khadijah bint khuwalid R.A.A and said, ‘Cover me! Cover me!’ They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told khadijah R.A.A everything that happened (And said), I fear that something may happen to me’. Khadijah replied, ‘ Nerver! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones.’

Khadijah R.A.A then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin Abdul Uzza, who during the period of ignorance became a christian and used to write the writings with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadijah said to Waraqa,’Listen to the story of your nephew, O my cousin!’ Waraqa said, ‘O my nephew, what have you seen?’ Allah’s Messenger described whatever he had seen. Warqa said, ‘This is the same one(angel, i.e. Jibril) whom Allah has sent to Musa. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out’. Allah’s Messenger asked, ‘Will they drive me out?’ Waraqa replied in affirmative and added, ‘Anyone who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should remain alive till the day then I would support you strongly,. But after a few days Waraqa died and the divine revelations was also paused for a while.

Narrated Jabir bin Abdullah Al-Ansari while talking about the period of pause in revelation, reported the speech of the prophet S.A.S. While i was walking, all of a sudden I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up and saw the same angel, who had visited me at the cave of Hira, sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I got scared of him and came back home and said, ‘Wrap me(in a blanket).’ And then Allah revealed the following Holy verses of Quran: ‘O you(Muhammad S.A.S) envoled(in garments)! Arise and warn … (upto you) and keep away from Ar-Rujz(the idols)! {V.74:1-5}. After this the revelations started coming strongly and frequently in succession one after the other. (Sahih Al Bukhari, #3 &4).

Through this surah (revealed in Makkah), Allah directs His servants to contemplate His favours and gifts as well as His great power that is demonstrated by His creating the heavens and the earth and the various types of categories of creatures in them. Allah the exalted also mentions the favours he bestowed on people of Israel such as revealing the divine books to them, sending them the Messengers and granting them kingship. The proof was sent to them yet they differed among themselves after the proof came to them out of transgression against each other as mentioned “And indeed We gave the children of Israel the scripture, the understanding of scripture and its laws and the prophethood; and provided with good things ….. Verily, Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection about that wherein they used to differ” (45: 16-17)

Allah also states through this Surah that the believers and the disbelievers are never equal and He will not treat them equally in the present life and in the hereafter. Allah mentions “Worst is the judgement they make .. “(45: 21) meaning that worst is the thought that the disbelievers have a thought about Allah and His judgement that he will make the pious and the wicked equal in the hereafter of this life.

This surah also reveals some of the horrors of the day of the resurrection. Allah mentions that on that day every nation would be kneeling, fearful of the tremendous calamity and events. It was said that this will occur when Hellfire would be brought forth, for she will exhale once and everyone will fall to their knees, including Ibrahim, the Khalil. He will proclaim, ‘Myself, myself, myself! Today, I will not ask you (O Allah) but about myself’. And even Isa will proclaim, ‘Today I will not ask you about Maryam, who gave birth to me’. And when the book of deeds be presented to us, “They will say: ‘Woe to us! What sort of book is this that leaves neither a small thing nor a big thing but has recorded it with numbers!” (18: 49).

It is mentioned that the angels record the deeds of the servant and then ascend to the heavens with them. There, they meet the angels entrusted with the Records of deeds sent down from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz on each Night of Al-Qadr, containing what Allah has written will occur from the servants, long before He created them. They will compare the records and find out that not a single letter was added or deleted. Subhanallah, That is how accurate the recordings of our deeds shall be!

In an authentic Hadith, the prophet S.A.S said, ‘Allah the Exalted said, ‘Glory is My robe and the pride is My garment; whoever rivals Me for either of them, I will make him reside in My fire (Abu Dawood 4:350 and Muslim 4:2023) . Allah is Al-Aziz, who is never resisted or rivaled and Al-Hakim, all wise in His statements, actions, legislations and the decree he appoints. All glory and praise are due to Him, none has the right to be worshipped but He, Alone.

Allah reveals the story of Zakariyya in Surah Maryam, chapter 19 in the Holy Quran in verses 1-15. Allah reminds mankind of his mercy on his servant Zakariyya. It has been recorded in the Sahih Al-Bukhari that the prophet S.A.S said that Zakariyya was a carpenter who used to eat from what he earned with his own hand through his carpentry. Zakariyya was a really old man, weak and feeble in strength (19:4); the point being not to describe his physical appearance but to inform the extent of his old age and weakness. He had no heir to carry forward his mission and therefore he used to make his supplications secretly (which is more beloved to Allah), he feared his Mawali (relatives) since he was afraid that the generation that would succeed him would be a wicked generation. Thus, he used to ask Allah for a prophet after him, who would guide them with his prophethood and that which was revealed to him.

Allah responded to his supplications by giving him glad tidings of a son to be named Yahya as mentioned: ‘At that time Zakariyya invoked his Lord saying: ‘O my Lord! Grant me from You, a good offspring. You are indeed the All-Hearer of invocation.’ Then the angles called him, while he was standing in prayer in the Mihrab (a private place for worship) saying :’Allah gives you glad tidings of Yahya, confirming (believing in) the word of Allah, noble, keeping away from sexual relations with women, a prophet, from among the righteous (3:38-39). Zakariyya was truly amazed when his supplications was answered and he was given the good news of a son. This is particularly amazing since his wife was an old woman who was barren and had not given birth to any children in her entire life. Even Zakariyya himself had become feeble and thin, and had no potent semen or vigor for sexual intercourse. The following Ayat also informs of the birth of the son from the same barren wife and not any other woman, showing how simple and easy it is for Allah to do so and reminded him of how he and every human is created from nothing in a womb.

Zakriyya then asks Allah to give him a sign (19: 10) and a proof of the existence of that which You have promised me, so that my soul will be at rest and my heart will be at ease with Your promise. Allah replies by saying, ‘Your sign in that you shall not speak unto mankind for three nights, though having no bodily defect‘ (19:10). Meaning that his tongue was prevented from speaking for three nights while he was totally healthy and fit.

Allah in following verses mentions the birth of Yahya as per His promise to Zakariyya. Yahya was blessed with characteristics like knowledge, fortitude, diligence and zeal for good and pirsuit of good, even though he was very young. Then Allah mentions the reward oh Yahya for this, ‘And Salam be on him the day he was born and the day he dies and the day her will be raised up to life‘(16:15). This means that Yahya was granted security and safety in these three circumstances where a man is the loneliest. The first situation is on that day he was born, the second when he dies and he will not see nayone anymore and the third when he will be resurrected and he sees himself in a great gathering. Allah exclusively honors Yahya by granting him peace in these situations.

Allah reveals the story of the two sons of Adam, Abel and Cain in various verses throughout the Quran. In Chapter 5, verses from 27-31 talk about their story, but the experts/scholars opinion and more commentary on the same subject is being printed below as complied by the Darussalam publication in their book ‘ Stories of the Prophets’. It is mentioned by exegete’s that Adam and Hawwa had in every birth one male child and one female child. They were commanded that every son of them would marry the sister of his brother with whom she was born. No one was allowed to get married with his sister with whom he was born

Abel wanted to get married with the twin sister of his elder brother Cain. But since his twin sister was more beautiful, Cain wanted to keep his twin sister for himself. Adam asked Cain to her with Abel but he refused to do so. Then he ordered them both to offer a sacrifice and left for Makkah to perform Hajj. After Adam had left, both offered their scarifies. Abel offered a fat lamb since he was a Sheppard. While Cain offered a bundle of worst crops he had grown. A fire came down and devoured the sacrifice of Abel, leaving the sacrifice of Cain untouched. He became angry and started threatening Abel, ‘I will kill you so that you may not marry my sister’. Abel replied, ‘Allah accepts only from those who fear Him’.

One night, Abel did not return from tending his flock. So Adam sent Cain to see what happened to him. When Cain went looking for him, he found him and he complained, ‘Your offering was accepted, but mine was not’. Cain becomes angry in the argument and hits his brother with an iron he holds in his hand thereby killing his brother. The response which Abel showed after he was threatened by his brother is a sign of his noble character and piety. He avoided himself to respond with the same threat which his brother made towards him, as is clear from this verse: ‘Yet if you stretch out your hand against me to kill me, I shall not stretch out my hand to kill you, for I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds‘. (5: 28)

Narrates Imam Ahmad from Abdullah bin Masud R.A.A who said that prophet S.A.S said, ‘No soul is killed unjustly but the first son of Adam bears a part of that sin. Because he was the first to initiate this tradition of killing‘ (Sahih Al-Bukhari).

Perhaps the first Messenger to be sent upon this earth – Noah A.S. Allah S.W.T mentions his story and the story of his people, and how He sent to them His punishment of flood to those who rejected his call. He also mentions how He rescued people believing in Him in an Ark in different chapters of the Quran.

Noah A.S was sent during the times when people started worshiping idols other than Allah S.W.T, Following the saddening of people on the death of a few pious people, Satan whispered in their ears to erect statues in their memory to remind them to become just as pious as them, Sensing the people’s affection over those dead people Satan further worked his way in people’s head and encouraged them to build a statue each in their homes. But the idols/statues weren’t worshiped until a new generation among them came and Satan lied to them that their forefathers used to worship them and hence they should too.

Noah A.S was sent with a mission of inviting people back to Islam and hence giving them a chance of saving themselves from earning the wrath of Allah S.W.T, He carried on his mission through different means, for days and nights, in private and public. But none of the means succeeded. He was rather accused by his people for inventing falsehood and dishonoring their idols. “.. He lived among them one thousand years less fifty, then the flood seized them..‘ (29:14). After such a long time too, only a few believed in him and his message. And it was then revealed to Noah: ‘No more of your people shall believe in you other than those who have already believed, so grieve no longer at their misdeeds. Construct the Ark under our eyes and as Our Revelation, and address me no further on behalf of those who have been unjust; they shall be drowned in the flood. (11:36-37)

Noah A.S as per Allah S.W.T’s command started constructing an ark to save him and the believers from the flood Allah promised to send to destroy all non-believers. Allah S.W.T commanded him to build the ark eighty yards in length, and to paint it with tar inside and out, and its bow to be curved, so it could easily sail in the water. It was a three-story deck ship, every deck with a height of 10 yards, the bottom deck was kept for animals and cattle, the middle deck was for human, and the upper deck was for birds. All along people ridiculed Noah A.S walking by the ark, Noah A.S remained patient and cautioned them and asked them to fear the day of flood while he might be one smiling and not them.

It is said that from Noah A.S’s family, there were Noah A.S himself, his three sons, with his four daughter-in-law together with wife of Yam who did not believe in Noah A.S and hence never boarded the ark. Ibn Jarir has mentioned that the flood came on the 13th August in Coptic year, A group of exegetes hold the opinion that the water went 15 feet above the highest mountain of the earth, while others believe that the water was eighty yards above the highest mountain. This flood destroyed every thing and being as a result and when no non-believer remained. Allah S.W.T commanded the earth to swallow up the water and commanded the heaven to ceases raining. Those who did not pay heed to the message brought by Noah A.S met their ill-fate as such. Noah A.S’s son Yam drowned in the flood too as he never believed in the message brought down by his father.Therefore, none were left except the believers and they were commanded by Allah S.W.T to descend from the ark onto the mountain Judi when the water seeped away in the ground.

When death approached Noah A.S, his last advice to his children and hence us all was to follow two things – keeping one’s belief in Allah S.W.T oneness & knowing that when seven heavens and earths were to to put together in one side of the scale and ‘La ilaha illallah’ was to be put in the other, the latter outweighs the former and forbade us all from two things – Shirk (adjoining partners to Allah S.W.T) and haughtiness.

Look for

Dua of the Week

Another Me

ATTENTION:

As salaam alaikum Readers,

This is to assure that all the content seen/ to be see on this blog is authentic inshallah. If anyone wishes to inquire about the references, please write to me. You can do so by filling the contact form in my Question/Reach me page.